Aceh
Utara -Yusni hardly blinks his eyes as he closely watches the
unloading, unwrapping and checking of the glistening medical
equipment. Inside, the clinic is crowded with curious villagers,
mostly women and children, all trying to catch a glimpse of
what has arrived.
Muara Batu, situated in the east coast of Aceh province, is
about 30 km from the nearest hospital located in the city of
Lhokseumawe. This distance is further exaggerated during times
of emergency, such as when an expectant mother enters labor.
“It adds anxiety to pregnant women, especially first-time
mothers,” explains Yusni, a community leader in Muara
Batu.
The village, situated on the east coast of Aceh province, used
to have a clinic in its community hall. But it was destroyed
by the tsunami. “With the community clinic gone, women
have become less keen on going for monthly check ups and prefer
to give birth at home,” says Yusni. “And this is
not really safe.”
But today he breathes a sigh of relief. “This is good.
Now we have somewhere closer, and health personnel to turn to.”
The clinic in Muara Batu is one of 27 health clinics that are
being built by the Hong Kong Red Cross branch of the China Red
Cross in partnership with the Indonesian Red Cross (Palang Merah
Indonesia-PMI).The clinics will be staffed by professional health
personnel and monitored regularly by doctors, all of whom are
provided by the local government health department.
“This is our contribution to the long term rehabilitation
programme for the tsunami-affected families in Aceh, along with
nine schools in Aceh Utara,” says Floyd Barnaby, Hong
Kong Red Cross’ head of field operations. “We believe
access to health and education is one of the keys to recovery
in Aceh.”
A number of other national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
are working alongside PMI to reconstruct or renovate and equip
health facilities and hospitals throughout Aceh. The Japanese,
Korean, French, German, Swiss and Norwegian Red Cross Societies,
along with the Saudi and Turkish Red Crescent Societies will
help build or reconstruct 181 health facilities throughout Aceh
province. So far 55 of these have been completed.
As this extensive reconstruction continues, the Red Cross Red
Crescent, spearheaded by PMI, has stepped up its Community-Based
First Aid (CBFA) programme. This programme sees trained Red
Cross volunteers share important, basic first aid knowledge
with community members. These vital skills are applicable not
only in day to day life, but also during times of emergency.
“CBFA is at the heart of the Movement,” explains
Federation health delegate Ayham Alomari. “It builds the
capacity and confidence of communities and volunteers to prevent
and manage injuries and health problems that could occur anytime,
especially in times of disaster.”
Yukiko Kusano, a Japanese Red Cross health delegate says CBFA
is the priority programme of her national Society. “It
provides a more relevant and effective response in the context
of local health problems, injuries and emergencies.”
“CBFA is given much support at the village level. The
people are interested to learn about their health, disease prevention
and acquire first aid skills” says Jodie Ranford, a health
delegate for the Australian Red Cross, which aims to have 12-15
qualified CBFA village members trained in each village on Simeuleu
Island
As well as rebuilding health facilities, and providing important
first aid training, the Red Cross Red Crescent is also running
an ambulance service in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar, as well as
providing psychosocial support for survivors.
The Red Cross Red Crescent is also a primary partner in the
“Malaria Free Aceh” campaign which aims to distribute
880,000 insecticide-treated bed nets by the end of 2006, and
to educate residents in the prevention and treatment of malaria.
“We do our best to address various health concerns in
Aceh. We are glad we have active volunteers and the community
to help us,” says Marwan Hasibuan, the head of the PMI
health unit in Aceh.
“Good health is a pre-requisite to a good life. It returns
well-being and dignity to the tsunami-stricken people of Aceh.”
|
 |
 |
|
|
Muara
Batu community leader Yusni, says that pregnant women
can now look forward to safer child delivery with the
community health clinic provided by the Hong Kong Red
Cross. (p14920)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
A community midwife checksan inventory, making sure that
she has everything she needs to support expectant mothers
in the village of Muara Batu. (p14907)
|
|
|
 |
|
|
As
part of the Aceh recovery process, PMI, with the support
of national Red Cross and Red Crescent Socities, is conducting
Community-Based First Aid training to build the capacity
and confidence of people in times of emergency. (p14918)
|
|
News
